Monday, July 7, 2008

NSR Week 3 (Late)

Welcome to Normal Sinus Rhythm! This week, Gertrude over at Ridin' The Bus gave us the prompt, "You might be a _____ if..." Posted with each link is an excerpt of the original post; head over there and leave a comment if you have the time!

If there is a theme you would like to see in a future NSR, leave a comment here or send an email to nsrblog@gmail.com. We would really appreciate input on this project!

7. Lacking a window punch, you've gained access to an MVA victim using an avalanche shovel.8. You've directed traffic before you could legally drive.9. You've gone for two hour hikes at 3 am... sometimes to look for a missing person, sometimes just for fun.

6. You go to sew up a hole in a pair of clothes, and when reaching for the needle you feel an overwhelming urge to wear gloves.

5. You're driving your personal vehicle, but can't quite find the address... so you reach over to the console to turn on your left scene lights, only to quickly remember that you are in fact driving your own car and not an ambulance.

Well, I don't consider anyone to be much of a paramedic/EMT, unless one is a Jack of all trades. Part of that is the ability to keep a patient from harming himself and from harming crew members and still transport the patient to the hospital. This is the amateur wrestler/rodeo clown part of EMS, so:

And when we're done, away from patient and family, that's when I think. That's when the emotions hit me, the thoughts of my parents and my friends. That's when I sigh deeply and get a little misty eyed and I'm silent; that's when it hits me, fully sinking in.

The room in the nursing home is sparse. The patient, a large man in a hospital johnny, is pale and diaphoretic with a low grade fever and edema in his abdomen and extremities. His eyes follow me slowly as I assess him.